University entrance exams in Poland: ‘There were not enough skilled persons to fill all pools’.

Twenty eight high school graduates qualified to receive the grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland. The grant pool for Lithuania equaled 35, though there was a lack of candidates that were good enough to fill this sum.

Entrance exams in Poland took place in the Polish Community Centre in Vilnius on 4th and 5th May. There were 74 candidates applying in all. On the first day the candidates wrote tests in subjects demanded in their field of studies. 61 candidates successfully passed the written part. 17 of them didn’t have to undergo the interview as they obtained the necessary sum of points- 140 and more – in the written part. The second day the commission of the Bureau for Academic Recognition and International Exchange conducted the interviews. In the final outcome 28 persons classified to the grant of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland. The next persons have the chances to receive the scholarships of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Health; however, the final result will depend on the entrance exams which the candidates from Lithuania will have to pass in Poland.

‘This depends on many factors; in general, on the number of foreign students who will be interested in studying medicine or artistic studies. As to the candidates applying for medicine, dentistry and nursery, getting a positive result in Vilnius means being allowed to sit the exam organized by the ministry of Health in July. This is the exam for those who wish to study medicine in the polish language but who don’t graduate in Polish schools. As to the artistic studies, the key exam, which the candidates will have to pass in the chosen universities, is the one assessing the skills – music or artistic. Now is the time for consulting with proper universities, bringing the portfolio of works; for passing the whole procedure according with the general recruitment program and only then will the grant be given or not.’ – explains Łukasz Kaźmierczak, the second counselor of the Consular Department of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Vilnius, who was the member of the recruitment committee.

As he adds, soon the data of appropriate persons in the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Culture will be provided; they deal with the candidates for studies form outside Poland.

‘Till now, all the results, even those pertaining to the 28 ‘certain’ grants, are unofficial in the formal and legal sense. They have to be confirmed in the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Thus, the students still have some time to refer to the decisions of the committee, as the possibility exists’ –Łukasz Kaźmierczak informs.

The counselor is of the opinion that the level of this year’s candidates was diverse.

‘The pool which is determined for Lithuania – 35 places, has not been filled. There weren’t enough skilled persons to fill the sum and that denotes something. I was the member of the committee which examined the students in the area of science at the oral exam– the level of knowledge varied. There was a huge span – from the ones who had scarce knowledge on a given subject to the ones who had a broad knowledge and could present all the issues profoundly’ – Łukasz Kaźmierczak says.

The number of high school graduates from Polish schools in Lithuania who apply for the grants of the Polish government decreases each year. In 2012, 130 candidates took up the exams, in 2013 – 102, in 2014 – 80 of them.